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South African dish that consists of well-seasoned and spiced ground meat and baked with eggs. Truly a satisfying easy dish!
Bobotie or a one-dish casserole is one dish that can be found on almost all tables throughout South Africa. The recipe changes from family to family though. According to The Soul Of A New Cuisine cookbook by Marcus Samuelsson, the Malay families in Africa might add almonds or raisins, while Afrikaners prepare a simpler version, similar to Britain’s shepherd’s pie.
Bobotie is a hearty home-style dish. That layer of spices and the peanuts just makes it much richer in taste. My vote is…I like this dish.
Bobotie
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ lbs ground beef
- 1 medium red onion finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1 Tbsp curry powder
- ½ tsp ground cumin
- ½ tsp crushed coriander seeds
- 2 to matoes chopped, or 1 cup chopped canned tomatoes
- ¼ cup bread crumbs
- ¼ cup crushed peanuts or smooth peanut butter preferably unsweetened
- 2 tsp salt divided
- 1 cup milk
- 2 large eggs
- 2 egg yolks
- Pinch of ground nutmeg
Instructions
- Heat a dutch oven or other large heavy pot over medium-high heat. Add the beef and onion and cook, stirring to break up any lumps, until the beef is well browned,a bout 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic, masala, cumin, coriander, and tomatoes, reduce the heat to low, and cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes
- Stir in the bread crumbs, peanuts, 1 1/2 tsp of the salt, and 1/2 cup water and cook for another 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove the beef mixture from the pot with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Transfer to a plate and refrigerate for 20 minutes
- Preheat the oven to 350. Generously butter a 2-quart baking dish. Spread the beef mixture in the bottom of the pan and press down to pack well. Whisk together the milk, eggs, egg yolks, nutmeg, and the remaining 1/2 tsp salt and pour over the beef mixture
- Set the baking dish in a larger baking pan and add enough hot water to come 1 inch up the sides of the baking dish. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 25 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for another 20 minutes, until the custard topping is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean
- Cut into squares/wedges and serve
The Bobotie looks a little lonely without any carbs, so we ate it with rice ! ha! seriously, we can make everything works with rice in our house lol!
